Goon - Liev Schreiber - F2

Interview: Liev Schreiber

Feb 23, 2012

Dork Shelf catches up with Goon actor Liev Schreiber and talks about the extensive preparation required to become a hockey player on film, learning how to fight on ice, and his earliest memories of the game. Continue reading

Donovan's Echo - Bruce Greenwood - F2

Donovan’s Echo Review

Feb 23, 2012

While on paper it all might sound like another inspirational movie of the week, director Jim Cliffe’s debut feature Donovan’s Echo contains more than enough powerful performances and filmmaking craft to warrant the theatrical release it’s getting. Continue reading

Game of Thrones: The Exhibition - George R. R. Martin - F2

Game of Thrones: The Exhibition comes to the Lightbox

Feb 22, 2012

When TIFF announced earlier this year that A Song of Ice and Fire author George R. R. Martin would be coming to the Bell Lightbox in Toronto for a speaking engagement, fans of his novels and the HBO series it spawned were elated. The “In Conversation…” event sounded great, but we knew that a simple visit would not be the only thing that the film fest group had in store for Game of Thrones fans. And boy, did they not disappoint. Today, TIFF along with HBO Canada and Random House announced Game of Thrones: The Exhibition. Continue reading

Rampart - Woody Harrelson - F2

Rampart Review

Feb 22, 2012

Despite being the mind behind the brilliant L.A. Confidential, writer James Ellroy’s work rarely transitions well to the big screen. Much like graphic novelist Frank Miller, Ellroy needs a director who can temper his sometimes unnecessarily over the top and formulaic material into a watchable package. With Ellroy’s latest outing Rampart, director Oren Moverman show’s that he’s simply not up to the challenge leading to film that feels wholly indistinguishable from the author’s past big screen outings about dirty Los Angeles cops. Continue reading

Goon - Liev Schreiber - F2

Goon Review

Feb 22, 2012

Calling Goon this generation’s Slap Shot would be an understatement. Aside from the obvious surface comparisons to the George Roy Hill/Paul Newman classic about a minor league hockey team going nowhere, director Michael Dowse (Fubar) and co-writer/co-star Jay Baruchel have created a film that outdoes what many hail as the greatest hockey comedy ever made. Continue reading

Alison Pill - Goon - F2

Interview: Alison Pill

Feb 22, 2012

Dork Shelf talks to another Goon cast member, Toronto native Alison Pill, about what to look for when choosing a love interest role, working with Seann William Scott and Jay Baruchel, and her fear of improv. Continue reading

Mighty Jill Off - F2

Interview: forallgamerssake Curator Jaime Woo

Feb 21, 2012

Jaime Woo is best known to Toronto gamers as one of the co-founders of Gamercamp, but he’s recently expanded his organizational portfolio with forallgamerssake, an art exhibit that seeks to explore the roles of gender and queerness in video games. We spoke with Jaime prior to the exhibit’s debut at the CSI Annex in Toronto, and what follows is a frequently hilarious and consistently uncompromising conversation about equality and representation in games, with detours for everything from Mass Effect 3 to condom warfare. Continue reading

Marc-André Grondin - Goon - F2

Interview: Marc-Andre Grondin

Feb 21, 2012

The charming and candid Marc-André Grondin talked to Dork Shelf about the upcoming hockey comedy Goon and what it’s like to play someone so irredeemable as his character, how to dress like a douche for the camera, and how challenging it can be to make a French Canadian character funny without turning it into a stereotype. Continue reading

Puncture - Chris Evans - F2

This Week in DVD: 2/21/12

Feb 21, 2012

During a big week for DVD releases, we take a look at Brett Ratner’s Tower Heist, the film festival favourite Martha Marcy May Marlene, the multiple Genie award nominee Café de Flore, and a trio of big name direct to DVD features starring the likes of Chris Evans, Colin Farrell, Keira Knightley, Ryan Reynolds, and Julia Roberts. Continue reading

Judgment Night - F2

Defending The Indefensible: Judgment Night

Feb 20, 2012

In the first entry of the published offshoot of the popular screening series, Defending the Indefensible curator Andrew Parker looks back at the “overlooked and under-appreciated” 1993 thriller Judgment Night, starring Emilio Estevez and Denis Leary. Continue reading

Jim Cliffe - Donovan's Echo - F2

Interview: Donovan’s Echo Director Jim Cliffe

Feb 20, 2012

Dork Shelf talks the director of the Canadian drama Donovan’s Echo, Jim Cliffe, about working with Danny Glover and Bruce Greenwood, making the transition from animation to live action, and the importance of having a really great mathematician during the writing process. Continue reading

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Con Air F2

The Nic Cage Project: Con Air

Feb 18, 2012

To celebrate TIFF’s ongoing Bangkok Dangerous: The Cinema Of Nicolas Cage series, Alan Jones has resurrected his retrospective of the actor’s work entitled The Nic Cage Project. In this edition, Jones boards Simon West’s Con Air – playing tonight at the Lightbox. Continue reading